Google Earth For Dummies

David A. Crowder

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780470095287
• eBook ISBN: 9781118051115
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Informatica
• Subtopic: Informatica generale

Explore the world from your computer!

• This interesting guide covers all aspects of Google Earth, the freely downloadable application from Google that allows users to view satellite images from all points of the globe
• Aimed at a diverse audience, including casual users who enjoy air shots of locales as well as geographers, real estate professionals, and GPS developers
• Includes valuable tips on various customizations that users can add, advice on setting up scavenger hunts, and guidance on using Google Earth to benefit a business
• Explains modifying general options, managing the layer and placemark systems, and tackling some of the more technical aspects, such as interfacing with GPS
• There are more than 400, 000 registered users of Google Earth and the number is still growing

Part I

Getting to Know Google Earth

In this part . . .

Chapter 1 gives you a general overview of the program and its uses, and Chapter 2 shows you how to quickly and easily get a look at any location on Earth. Chapter 3 then explores Google Earth’s basic visual features and its most exciting tools, like Tilt and Zoom.

Chapter 1

The Earth According to Google

In This Chapter

Getting to know Google Earth

Comparing versions

Understanding Google Earth’s capabilities

Joining Google Earth communities

Google Earth is not just another map program or some kind of digitized globe inside your computer, but rather, a social phenomenon. Although it can stand on its own with other Geographic Information System (GIS) software, its focus is on giving the public a unique experience.

With everything from National Geographic articles to live Webcams to local commentaries built into it, the program doesn’t just display maps and photos but launches the era of satellite tourism. Calling it a 3-D interface to the planet, the folks at Google are backing it to the hilt with both their incredible wealth and their enviable marketing savvy, and it seems destined to grow into one of the largest of all the online communities.

With Google Earth, you have wings. You can fly high above the planet or zoom right down to the ground. In seconds, you can zip from the deserts of the American West to the tropic isle Tahiti. No tickets to buy, no bags to pack, no long lines or customs or anything else. Just go!

The View from Google Earth

Because Google relies upon many outside providers for its satellite and aerial imagery, the quality of images in different locations varies somewhat. Figure 1-1 shows the program’s clean interface design as well as the kind of detail it can achieve. This close shot of New York’s Yankee Stadium is typical of the world’s major metropolitan areas.

Figure 1-1: The Google Earth interface.

The same level of detail is not, of course, generally available in rural areas, which have not been as extensively photographed from space. This is not a limitation of Google Earth but rather of the current state of available data, and this constraint applies to all GIS programs. The simple rule is that the more expensive the real estate, the more likely it is to have been the subject of detailed — and costly — satellite analysis.

Although it relies upon imagery from satellite photos taken anytime in the past three years, Google Earth isn’t merely a static collection of warmed-over satellite images from dusty sources. Rather, it’s continuously kept current through a vigorous program of updates. Such attention to detail and timeliness is one of the reasons why people ranging from casual users to real estate professionals have come to rely upon the Google Earth service.

Google Earth also makes it a point to respond quickly to breaking news. As an example, when a deadly earthquake struck Pakistan, Google Earth had updated, higher-quality satellite imagery of the quake area available online in less than a week, freely available to everybody from news junkies to international rescue workers. The first time such on-the-fly updating was used was during the Hurricane Katrina response. Google Earth, working with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), had very detailed imagery of the entire affected region online within five days after the event.

Exploring the Earth Online

The images in Google Earth are composed of zillions of separate photographs. Most were taken from orbit by satellites or the Space Shuttle, but there are also much more detailed close shots taken from airplanes.

Each of these images...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : Getting to Know Google Earth
• Part II : Personalizing Google Earth
• Part III : Becoming a Cybertourist
• Part IV : Advanced Features
• Part V : The Part of Tens
• Part VI : Appendixes